Recently, there was yet another online poker scandal, where the winner of a big tournament was caught cheating and had to forfeit his winnings…this time it involved a practice known as Account Selling.
Account Selling, is becoming a somewhat popular option for people who get deep in the major tournaments. It means exactly what the term would imply, a person deep in the tourney sells their account ‘temporarily’ to a more experienced tournament player to finish it out. Often the deals will be negotiated for a certain % of the final cash, or sometimes a flat fee.
This most recent scandal involved Sorel Mizzi (aka Imper1um, ranked in top 5 on pocket fives), and Bluff Magazine Editor Chris Vaughn. You can read all about it on Poker News @ http://www.pokernews.com/news/2007/12/online-poker-sorel-mizzi-chris-vaughn-speak-one.htm
Ghosting – is another popular ‘cheating’ method used online today. Basically, another person shadows your play, and watches you, while at the same time, hearing what cards you have (via cell phone, or im, or in person) advises/coaches you on what to do.
Both practices are difficult to police. At least account selling can be traced to logging in/out of the site…GG online poker.